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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278323">Thermostat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerartist/pseuds/summerartist'>summerartist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, allergic reactions, cold urticaria, yes I'm selfishly writing about this again</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:55:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,781</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24278323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerartist/pseuds/summerartist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s well known that Donna regards cooler temperatures as uncomfortable. Now if only she can make the Doctor understand that it’s much more than an inconvenience.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Donna knew that the TARDIS had a soft spot for her. It showed in small but significant ways. For instance, it was showing now as she floated blissfully on her back in the library swimming pool.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you are a sweetheart,” Donna told her.</p><p> </p><p>She heard the TARDIS respond with an audible vibration in her mind, not unlike a cat’s purr. Donna swept her arms out at her sides, propelling herself around in a meandering circle.</p><p> </p><p>She eventually got out, noting how the TARDIS was giving her a gentle mental nudge towards the sauna. She left the hot pool and entered the adjacent room to warm up even more. She could not help but feel wry amusement tug at the corner of her mouth. The Doctor would have been uncomfortable to experience these consistently high temperatures.</p><p> </p><p>She let her mind wander as she toweled off and then went to the dressing room to change. She shrugged on sweats and a tunic top and went to go see if the Doctor had decided on their next destination. The TARDIS led her unerringly to the Doctor’s side. He was flitting about energetically, telling her that he was going to let the randomizer select their next planet. Donna readily agreed.</p><p> </p><p>“You were swimming, weren’t you,” the Doctor stated confidently.</p><p> </p><p>Donna raised her eyebrows. “Did the TARDIS snitch on me?”</p><p> </p><p>Usually the TARDIS kept Donna’s activities under wraps, even from her pilot.</p><p> </p><p>“You just look...relaxed. And drenched. It’s not a difficult conclusion to draw. So, think you’ve had enough relaxation to have another adventure?”</p><p> </p><p>“As if you have to ask.” Donna lit up, watching as he selected the randomizer mode. New planet, here Donna Noble came.</p><p> </p><p>“And-” They grinned as they felt the gravitational forces glide over the TARDIS. Donna held onto a section of railing and the Doctor clutched the console. They arrived with a bump that nearly threw them off their feet. Donna was already straightening up and making her way towards the exit. She wondered where the TARDIS thought that the universe needed their influence this time. She threw open the door and was greeted with a familiar sight.</p><p> </p><p>“Snow.” She said it with the same tone people used when they discovered something stuck to the underside of their shoe.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh come on, it’s lovely,” the Doctor crowed. “And ice. Love the ice.”</p><p> </p><p>“You would,” Donna mumbled.</p><p> </p><p>The landscape was barren and dotted with hills, blue ice spires, and more snow.</p><p> </p><p>Donna sighed. “I’m going to go grab my coat.”...and hat, and scarf, and mittens, but that went without saying.</p><p> </p><p>“Nonsense. It’s barely freezing. It’s amazing how the ice retains this state. Come on, let’s get a closer look.” He stepped out to admire the view.</p><p> </p><p>Donna was already striding back towards the TARDIS. She slammed the door shut on the Doctor’s irritated call. Donna found her winter clothes draped across the jumpseat, along with some bulky gloves and a gaiter to shield her face from the icy wind. Donna grabbed her coat. She eyed the thermal gloves. She knew that the Doctor would make a big fuss about them, complaining about keeping him waiting and wearing cumbersome gear. She wouldn’t be able to grasp anything with those gloves. Donna made her decision. She chose the lighter mittens beside them that were supposed to act as the lining and made a dash for the door.</p><p> </p><p>The TARDIS gave an unearthly wail.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be back, sweetheart. Don’t wait up for me.” Donna flung the doors shut behind her.</p><p> </p><p>She ran to catch up with the Doctor’s long stride. He was already at the edge of a clearing and walking faster. She heard a high pitched shriek coming from the TARDIS before the Blue Box went silent.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, blimey. She didn’t like you backtracking,” the Doctor remarked. He had turned around to watch Donna run to catch up to him.</p><p> </p><p>Unknown to her, the TARDIS had included a specialized treatment kit alongside the cold weather gear. In her haste, Donna hadn’t seen the packet. She had sealed her own fate though, aware that her damp hair would soon freeze and that it would quickly become an uncomfortable walk. The two travelers continued on their trek across the frozen planet.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>They had ended up walking all afternoon before they saw signs of life. A settlement lay just beneath the ridge of the snow capped mountains. It was a speck in the distance, but a substantial speck nonetheless.</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor was cheerful and talkative throughout the journey. He didn’t seem to be aware that Donna grew quieter and quieter. Donna kept her hood up and always faced away whenever she could sense the Doctor glancing over at her. Donna felt the cold attack her thighs and calves, creating a familiar itchy sensation along her legs. When she brushed her hand across her exposed face to scratch near her nose, she noted the blotches forming across her cheeks. She felt her heart flutter with trepidation. The Doctor would definitely notice this time.</p><p> </p><p>Would he brush it off? He always did whenever she complained about the chill. Or worse, he might poke fun at the uncomfortable wheals developing on her body. Her vision was already swimming at the edges and she tried to blink the spots away.</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor turned to her, eyes following her hand going up to her face and scratching within her hood. After the third session of fidgeting, the Doctor asked her if there was something amiss.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing, I’m just itchy,” Donna muttered. She made a vaguely irritated noise, dragging her fingernails across her bumpy forehead and cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor approached her. “You’re doing that a lot. Here, let me see.”</p><p> </p><p>He gently cupped her jaw and turned her head towards him. Donna saw his eyes widen. She hurriedly tried to turn away.</p><p> </p><p>“You have spots there. Why is your face-?”</p><p> </p><p>Donna huffed and broke away from him, leaving his hand suspended in the empty air.</p><p> </p><p>“I have an allergy,” she told him. She kept walking forward, ignoring how her vision was once again rippling. The Doctor ran to catch up with her.</p><p> </p><p>“An allergy to what?” He pressed.</p><p> </p><p>“To the cold, if you must know.” She controlled her breathing as she set a steady pace for herself. The last thing she wanted to do was pass out in a snowdrift on some alien planet.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yes, and I’m allergic to pears,” he said sarcastically.</p><p> </p><p>Donna hissed a breath and the Doctor halted.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you mean you’re actually allergic to the cold.” He trotted to reach her side again. “Donna, maybe we should stop-”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine. Let’s keep going before we freeze out here. Those buildings can’t be far off. Come on.”</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor didn’t continue to argue with her and instead kept up the pace. He trailed along at her heels. Donna heard rustling sounds from behind her and felt a long trailing weight settle across her back. She knew that it was his coat. She wanted to tell him that he would freeze out here if they weren’t careful, but she was so cold that it was taking all of her concentration just to keep moving forward.</p><p> </p><p>After a while of hiking, Donna’s pace began to slow. The Doctor placed a hand on her back to help steady her. She didn’t fight him off this time, even consciously using his support. The Doctor kept talking to her, remarking how he couldn’t believe he hadn’t figured out about her allergy sooner and assuring her that they would somehow warm her up once they reached the village.</p><p> </p><p>“Almost there, Donna,” the Doctor reminded her.</p><p> </p><p>Donna’s swollen feet felt like they had cushions attached to the underside of them. Her eyelids were puffy and were resting at half-mast. She must look a mess. She felt the Doctor rub her back soothingly, confirming her suspicions about her bedraggled appearance.</p><p> </p><p>They reached the edge of the settlement and Donna was seconds away from collapsing to her knees. Her lips felt bloodless and the numbness was setting in.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on.” The Doctor wound an arm around her.</p><p> </p><p>They struggled forward. They halted a few feet away from a strange looking tall alien. She heard the Doctor do a lot of talking. Donna nestled closer to the Doctor’s side. Then they were moving again and they entered a sleek looking building. Donna would have given anything to just be able to flop over in the mudroom and lay there.</p><p> </p><p>“Donna? Donna, we’re almost there.”</p><p> </p><p>Then he was tugging her up a flight of stairs. He didn’t allow for her to pause and he kept pulling her up by her arms. They reached a door and the Doctor fumbled with some sort of futuristic lock.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll get in and get you lying down,” the Doctor muttered quietly. “Hang on just a tick.”</p><p> </p><p>Then they were through and he was guiding her to a cocoon shaped bed. Donna would have happily lost consciousness on it for a while, but her body was not so merciful. She lay awake as the Doctor pressed the drum of a stethoscope over her heart.</p><p> </p><p>“This gets better once your temperature is elevated?” He asked for confirmation.</p><p> </p><p>She managed to nod.</p><p> </p><p>“Right.” The Doctor started ransacking the room for what seemed like every scrap of fabric he could procure. He tucked drapes and what looked like a tablecloth over her. Once that was done, he knelt down beside her. “I’m going to search for a more direct way of warming you up. I’ll be back, alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Donna let out a tiny noise of protest. The Doctor squeezed her gloved hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Hang tight, Donna.”</p><p> </p><p>Then he was gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She wasn’t sure about how long he had been absent, but soon his voice was filling up the room again. “I told you I would be right back. Our hosts are heating up some more- but I have these.”</p><p> </p><p>Donna opened her eyes as weird wobbly weights flopped down onto the bed. Before she could get a good look at them, the Doctor was feeling her pulse in her neck. He tilted up her chin to examine her. Donna groaned. Then she felt the weights being tucked up against her pulse points.</p><p> </p><p>“They didn’t have anything like electric blankets or bio heating fuel...” he rambled on.</p><p> </p><p>Donna stopped listening at some point, just marveling at the warmth coming from the oddly round things. They felt like hot water bottles. It definitely beat out the more unpleasant alien stuff that they had encountered.</p><p> </p><p>Then the door lock jiggled and Donna watched the Doctor hop over to it. He held a brief discussion with an alien in the hallway. The conversation concluded and the Doctor returned quickly to her side. He untucked the blankets from around her feet and undid her shoelaces.</p><p> </p><p>“Here, you’ll be more comfortable like this.”</p><p> </p><p>He gently worked off her shoes and settled a weight just above her ankles. He tucked her in again before fumbling near her neck. She made a discontented noise as the Doctor exposed her upper back. He settled a hot water bottle by the base of her neck and <em>oh. Oh, that was nice.</em></p><p> </p><p>“Rest,” he told her.</p><p> </p><p>That sounded like a pleasant idea. She didn’t think she could sleep, but closing her sore eyelids would suffice. She obliged him just this once.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>When next Donna opened her eyes, she found a curious Time Lord studying her.</p><p> </p><p>“Donna, can I examine you?”</p><p> </p><p>She nodded her permission. The Doctor hadn’t removed his stethoscope from around his neck since it had first appeared. He listened to her heart and lungs.</p><p> </p><p>“You know, the human credited with inventing the stethoscope died of tuberculosis at age 45. The malady was diagnosed...using a stethoscope,” he said casually.</p><p> </p><p>Donna hummed her understanding.</p><p> </p><p>“Your lungs sound healthy and your heart rate’s dropped within regular parameters. No tachycardia and less urticaria.” He stowed away the medical tool and gave her a cautious smile. “Feeling better?”</p><p> </p><p>Donna scrunched up her brow, trying to figure out what she was feeling. The sensation was persistent and a trifle annoying. Then realization hit.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m hungry.”</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor beamed. “Molto bene. I’ll send up for something edible. We have courteous hosts. They’ve had visitors that have been effected by the cold before.”</p><p> </p><p>He became a flurry of motion again, making arrangements. He dug out a banana and a juice packet from his coat in addition to the food that was sent up. Donna found that she was able to eat a substantial amount, as per her usual post-breakout routine. Something about the whole process had drained her reserves. Her Spaceman seemed quite pleased with her appetite and he wholeheartedly joined in.</p><p> </p><p>“Doctor, it should be obvious, but- where are we?”</p><p> </p><p>He looked around, spoon still shoved partially into his mouth. “This place? The equivalent of an Earth Bed and Breakfast. They get a fair amount of tourists wanting to see the ice spires.”</p><p> </p><p>He took another heaping spoonful of the gelatin that Donna had given to him to finish off. She had complained that it tasted of aged olives. Not for the first time, she noticed how he had wrecked the room in his rush to warm her up. She glanced down at her lap full of unusual blankets.</p><p> </p><p>“They must be real chuffed about you. The state of this room...” She remarked.</p><p> </p><p>“Mm, I’m paying them handsomely in UNIT intergalactic credits. Not many places take them. Must have been lucky.” He put down the empty gelatin container. “Well, I’d best get going. I have a hike ahead of me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Donna’s eyes widened and she attempted to stand up with him. Her body felt like it was made of lead weights, but she supposed she could walk if it wasn’t too far.</p><p> </p><p>“Not this time,” he told her kindly. “All you have to do is wait. I’m bringing the TARDIS to you.”</p><p> </p><p>“But-”</p><p> </p><p>“Not this time,” he repeated firmly.</p><p> </p><p>Donna would have protested, but something about his eyes silenced her. He looked suddenly very old. Instead, she said, “Be careful.”</p><p> </p><p>He gave her a tight-lipped smile and slipped out of the room.<br/><br/><br/></p><hr/><p> </p><p>Donna couldn’t help but note that their destinations ranged from sunny woodlands to beaches for a while. She got in some quality swimming time, both in and off the TARDIS. One time when she went down to the library for a swim, she saw the Doctor already sitting on the edge of the pool. He had dipped his feet in and seemed to be idly swirling the water around. He didn’t look up as Donna tested the temperature for herself. She expected it to be ice cold, but it was her regular affair, nice and piping hot. She slipped in the rest of the way and swam over to the contemplative Time Lord.</p><p> </p><p>“Not brooding, are you?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t notice before,” he said quietly.</p><p> </p><p>“Notice what?”</p><p> </p><p>“The planet of the Ood, you always wearing a coat, and the TARDIS making that steam room exclusively for you. You told me you were uncomfortable and I didn’t listen,” he said solemnly.</p><p> </p><p>She thought back to all of his biting comments about her coats and his glares whenever she complained about the cold. The remarks hadn’t been pleasant, that was true, but she was used to them coming from other people. She knew that the Doctor was a conscientious person though. He would never forget about her need for moderate temperatures again.</p><p> </p><p>Donna couldn’t help but chuckle at the Time Lord. He looked up at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that all you’re worried about? Listen, not to be tactless, but this is hardly the first time you haven’t listened to me and it probably won’t be the last. You took care of me, so I’d say we’re even,” she said simply. “Now stop dipping your feet into hot water as some sort of penance or something.” She slapped his pale heel impatiently.</p><p> </p><p>He smirked. “This isn’t penance. I wanted to see what it was like. Usually I’m not keen on heat all the time, but it’s tolerable doing this.”</p><p> </p><p>“Aren’t you going to try out the sauna next?” Donna asked teasingly.</p><p> </p><p>He wrinkled up his nose at the thought and Donna laughed at him. “We’re good, Spaceman, I promise.”</p><p> </p><p>They had definitely gone through far worse. Donna heard the TARDIS give a melodic hum of agreement.</p><p> </p><p>Besides, this had been worth it. Seeing the stars, the new worlds, and the great wide universe was worth it. The best part was that she didn’t have to do it alone. She had the two very best traveling companions always watching her back.</p><p> </p><p>The End.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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